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Friday, 14 April 2017

Holy Saturday, April 15, 2017 - THE SEVEN SORROWS OF MARY -

THE SEVEN SORROWS OF MARY

Yesterday
we celebrated the passion and death of the Lord. The last words of Jesus on the
cross were “it is finished, it is accomplished”. Jesus accepted what the father
sent him to do. And so he could say “it is finished”. However, it continues
because of whom Jesus left behind. And he left behind his mother and his
disciples.

During the
course of our meditation this morning, when all over the world is Holy
Saturday, we will spend this time with Mary by going through the mysteries of
her life as mother of Jesus, as mother of God and see what fruit we can draw
from the manner in which she responded. There are so many things that one could
say about Mary but for our reflection this morning I will take, what is
commonly called the 7 sorrows, the 7 dolours of our Blessed Mother.

The first of these is the prophecy of Simeon, Lk 2:34-35
- Jesus is brought by Mary and his foster father to the temple to be presented
to God, to be gifted to God, to be handed over to God. And even as he is
presented, Simeon who was waiting for the Lord’s kingdom realizes that it has
come in this child. And his response on encountering Jesus is to address his
mother, He speaks to Mary and tells her in prophecy that Jesus will be a sign
that is accepted, and rejected, a sign that will frighten those who are corrupt
and dishonest, a sign that will wake people up from their slumber and a sign
that will be rejected and killed. And even as he says that, he brings Mary into
salvation history when he speaks of a sword piercing Mary’s heart as well. Mary
will be a collaborator with her son in achieving salvation history. And through
this prophecy of Simeon brings to our attention the fact that just because God
has favoured her, just because God has chosen her, just because God has given
her the privilege and honour of being the mother of Jesus does not necessarily
mean that everything will be smooth sailing. As a matter of fact it means she
would have more difficulties than others who were not chosen. So often in our
lives we might tend to lose hope, we might tend to think God is not on our
side, we might tend to think that God is punishing us and we might ask “where
is God in all of this?” If we reflect on the prophecy of Simeon addressed to
Mary we will realize God is constantly present. So let the first sorrow of Mary
be an inspiration for us that no matter how many trials we may have to undergo,
no matter how many swords pierce our own hearts, we will look to Mary for
consolation and strength.

The second sorrow is traditionally narrated as the flight
into Egypt Mt. 2:13-15. It speaks you might say of
displacement, it speaks you might say of uprootedness, it speaks you might say
of change and transformation, it speaks you might say of Mary and Joseph’s
world being turned upside down; it speaks of instability, it speaks of the fact
that they are unable to make their home in one particular place, and have to
constantly to be like pilgrims moving from one place to another. Many of us are
fortunate to be living in the same place for a number of years, many of us are
fortunate to have stable homes, many of us are fortunate to live in countries
in which the political situation is stable and there is no threat of a war; and
yet I want you to reflect on the instability of your life, of sometimes your
own life is turned upside down and upheavals in your heart, when you are having
marital discord for example, when your children go astray for example, when
your parents don’t understand you for example, when in the community of
religious you feel that you are isolated and alone, when as the Superior of the
community or as the Parish Priest as in a parish, you feel that the
parishioners, the members of your community don’t understand you, then you go
through these upheavals, there’s unprootedness I would like you to bring to
mind the flight into Egypt, and you will see and reflect on how Mary and Joseph
were so obedient to God’s word because they knew that God’s plan for them was
better than the plan they would have for themselves. The flight into Egypt is a
sign that God is in charge. So no matter how many upheavals there may be in
your life, no matter how many times you might be uprooted in your hear, keep in
mind that at these times the Lord is with you.

The third sorrow is commonly called the finding in the temple
Lk 2:41-52 and even though it seems that it was Mary who found
Jesus, my own interpretation is Jesus was never lost. It was Mary who was lost
without Jesus, because the answer, the response of Jesus to his mother “Why did
you look for me, you ought to know where I can be found. I can be found doing
my Father’s business,” Mary was, at least in the beginning, looking in the
wrong place and then she realized that Jesus is found when we do God’s will.
And that is why in the gospel of Luke; Mary is portrayed right from the time of
the Annunciation in Lk 1:26-38, till the end of the gospel, as a woman who
constantly does God’s will. She learnt, you might say, from that incident of
finding in the temple that if she had to be a disciple of her son, she to
constantly do God’s will. And so I ask you where are you looking for Jesus? If
you are looking for him only in the tabernacle, if you are looking for him only
in the church, if you are looking for him only in holy places, you are looking
for a very, very, limited places because the Lord in the words of Teilhard de
Chardin, the Cosmic Christ, the Lord is now the Risen Christ, the Lord must now
be found in all things, in all persons, in all situations. And primarily, as
the Lord tells us in Mt 7:21-28, the Lord can be found when you do God’s will.

The fourth sorrow of Our Lady which is not really narrated by
the scriptures is Mary encounters Jesus carrying his cross.
Even though none of the scriptures speak about Jesus meeting his mother on the
way to Calvary or Golgotha, tradition is clear about this encounter because the
Gospel of Luke tells us Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem on his way to
Jerusalem. So surely he would have met his mother. What kind of an encounter do
you think it would have been? Do you
think that Mary would have been feeling sorry for herself; do you think she
would have been feeling sorry for er son, do you think she would want to reach
out to Jesus and wipe his battered face? Do you think that she would want to
help Jesus carry the cross? What kind of an encounter would this have been? I
invite you to spend a few moments reliving this scene, seeing in your mind’s
eye the Mother and Son. I would like to think that they would each be consoling
the other. I would like to think that they would each be strengthening the
other; I would like to think that they would each be reaching out to the other
rather than being concerned about their sorrow. And so this encounter might be
summarized in one word ‘selflessness’. It might be termed as a reaching out.
When you reach out even when you’re sad and you feel the whole world is
conspiring against you, when you reach out in sympathy and empathy to someone
else, when you avoid making yourself the focus and saying ‘Oh, look at me, how
I’m suffering for my sins and for the sins of the others”. When you avoid doing
that and look outside of yourself then you are being like Mary focusing on
Jesus, and focusing on others.

The fifth sorrow is Jesus dies on the cross Jn19:25-27
narrates this scene where Mary and the beloved disciple are standing at the
foot of Jesus’ cross. And Jesus, before his last breath in the Gospel of John
hands over his mother to the beloved disciple and hands over the disciple to
his mother. Who then is the beloved disciple? The beloved disciple is anyone
who loves Jesus. So if you love Jesus you cannot but take Mary into your home,
if you love Jesus you cannot but honour his mother and ours. If you love Jesus,
you cannot but make Mary an integral part of your life. As a matter of fact in
the Gospel of John this is how Church is described. The Spirit of Jesus (which
he breathes before his death), the beloved disciple (anyone who loves Jesus)
and the mother of Jesus. These three elements make up church. These three are
what church is all about in the Gospel of John. So today let us realize that we
cannot really have a full church, the church of the Lord unless his mother is
in that church as well. I am fond of saying that if Mary had to say NO we would
never have had Jesus, and you would not even be listening to this talk of mine.
So the fact that you are listening to the talk has its origin in Mary. And once
again I repeat the beautiful words of the Memorare “It was never know that
anyone who fled to her protection was left unaided.” And proof of that is again
in the scriptures where the mind of Jesus has changed because of the
intervention of Mary at Cana, Jn 2:1-12.

The sixth sorrow is Jesus is handed over to his mother, the
pieta of Michael Angelo. And if you can google this, put
down ‘pieta’, you will get a number of images of this beautiful scene, you will
a number of images of this beautiful scene portrayed. So beautifully by Michael
Angelo and so many artists after and before him of Jesus lying dead in the lap
of his mother. And Mary is not a woman who’s going to shed tears for herself;
Mary is not a woman who’s going to shed tears for her son, Mary is a woman
who’s going to continue the mission because she knows that her son has done all
that was required of him and that she is to do all that is required of her. And
that brings me once again to how so many of us unfortunately cry at the death
of a loved one as if the person is never going to rise again, how many of us
cry at the death of loved one for years after the person has gone simply
because we do not believe in the Resurrection. If you are one of those who is
crying for a dead parent, or a dead relative, or a dead friend, then I need
your you to understand that our God is not a God of the dead, but a God of the
living. And so today is not a day when you shed tears. Today is a day when you
give thanks that God did through your parent, through your friend, through your
relative who is now living with God all the beautiful things. And now you have
to let go, now we have to leave it in the hands of God, now you have to believe
that the person is in a much, much better place and situation than ever before.

And the last sorrow is when Jesus is laid in the tomb,
Even as we stand watching them lay Jesus in the tomb, let us stand with Mary
and us stand with confidence, let stand with courage, let us stand with trust
and faith and hope.

Let us
remain quiet and as we see the stone being rolled to close the tomb, let us
together recite the Hail and Holy Mary. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is
with you, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb,
Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our
death. Amen

About Me

There are four maxims I try to live by. The first is to ALWAYS have CHOICES about everything. The more choices I have, the less the chances of my being disappointed.
The Second is that I try to see my REWARD in the doing of the action itself. I will expect nothing from anyone in return and even expect the very ones I have helped to be ungrateful. It does not matter. I do not mind.
The third is that every stage in my life I try to KNOW where my authority ends. This saves a lot of bother. I am not the General Manager of the Universe. I do what I have to do and leave the rest to God.
The fourth is a readiness to face the consequences of my action. When I make a gaffe I am willing to rectify it and apologize. However, if it cannot be rectified I am ready to face the penalty.